Little Mac brought us the idea: Taking the May 1996 mod to TEW 2013 and pitting two goon factions against each other, one as WWF, and the other as WCW. The mod begins with the signing of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to WCW.

And WWF's booking team:I Before EAbrasive ObeliskXerzesHappymanDo not even askSenerioKliffNutritiousSnackIcePhoenixxNarUtoRKOrton420xDefiance IndustriesAntitonicNowOnSAProzachtriplexpacJunpei HydeGenericMartini

You may join a booking team at any time, but choose wisely - once you've picked a team, you cannot switch teams for any reason. Booking is mostly done via IRC chat, with some notes passed back and forth via Google Docs. For folks who played the previous version, we have new IRC channels and documents, but the old doc will be provided for you as a resource.

New folks and old folks alike, I need your e-mail address to give you your IRC channel and give you permission for the Google Doc. I have PMs, or you can e-mail me at SAJoeRules on gmail.

I've never run a TEW game of this nature before, so bear with me. I hope to run shows every other day (once we get started), and hopefully I can even give you a specific time, for booking deadlines and any in-game incidents that occur.

-The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels defended his title successfully against the malevolent Mankind.
-We saw The Man They Call Vader steamroll the Duke Of Destrucity himself in a hard-fought bout
-Owen Hart forced Chris Jericho's mentor, The Hot Rod, Roddy Piper, to tap out
-The Throwback himself, Bob Backlund, laid Ahmed Johnson low. After Ahmed Johnson pinned him in their match, Backlund's new protege, Charlie Haas, assaulted Ahmed, leaving him on the canvas.
-The Amazin' Asian, Yokozuna prevailed over the bilious bigotry of Jerry Lawler
-The Lionheart, Chris Jericho, on his mentor Roddy Piper's advice, issued an open challenge, answered by Tatanka, who was made to submit to the Walls of Jericho.
-The Smokin' Gunns got an upset victory over the Bodydonnas for the tag belts after Skip was overcome by jealousy when he noticed Sunny was cheering Zip more.
-After interference from The Undertaker, Phatu won Goldust's Intercontinental belt.
-The Two Man Power Trip of HHH and Stone Cold gave the Kid Rockers a thorough drubbing in a tag team contest.
-Rocky Maivia debuted strong, pinning Jesse James with ease.

As we move into the King Of The Ring tournament, many questions are posed:
-Who will HBK's next challenger be?
-Can Chris Jericho get revenge on Owen Hart, the man who humiliated his mentor?
-Will Goldust prevail in Act 3, or simply fade to black?
-Who will be the next King Of The Ring? Will it be the international superstar, Chris Jericho? The Japanese Man Of Mystery, Yoshihiro Tajiri? Stone Cold Steve Austin? The one-time King Of The Ring himself, Owen Hart? The Boisterous Buh-Buh Ray Dudley? North Carolina's own Jeff Hardy? Tune in to find out!
-Will losing the tag straps prove to be too much weight for the Warriors Of Wellness, the Bodydonnas?
-Can Ahmed Johnson regain his dignity after being so fiendishly ambushed?
-What is Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Secret?
-Who can stop The Man They Call Vader?
-Will Bret Hart ever return to the WWF after losing the title at Wrestlemania 12?

Previously, at Slamboree...
-Ron Simmons made his WCW return
-The Dungeon of Doom unveiled their newest client, the Great Muta
-Alex Wright stunned the WCW fans by joining the Nobility and becoming Baron Alexander Wright
-Ric Flair was kicked out of the Four Horsemen by Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit
-Sting and Lex Luger lost their WCW Tag Team titles to the Road Warriors in a match that also featured Harlem Heat
-Hulk Hogan attacked his best friend "Macho Man" Randy Savage during Savage's match with the Giant.

Questions going forward...
-Why did Hulk Hogan turn his back on Savage?
-What is the future of the Four Horsemen?
-Can the damaged relationship between Luger and Flair be repaired?
-Now that the Giant has taken care of Randy Savage, what's next for the WCW World Heavyweight Champion?
-Who else will join King Steven Regal's Nobility?
-And, oh yeah...what are Kevin Nash and Scott Hall doing?

It is Monday, Week 4 of May. Both shows are coming off strong PPVs, and seemed to use the PPV to transition to bigger and better storylines.

Also, WCW signed pretty much everybody and then only fired Elizabeth. They pissed off ECW, who agreed to a working arrangement with WWF as a result.

Little Mac brought us the idea: Taking the May 1996 mod to TEW 2013 and pitting two goon factions against each other, one as WWF, and the other as WCW. The mod begins with the signing of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to WCW.

You may join a booking team at any time, but choose wisely - once you've picked a team, you cannot switch teams for any reason. Booking is mostly done via IRC chat, with some notes passed back and forth via Google Docs. For folks who played the previous version, we have new IRC channels and documents, but the old doc will be provided for you as a resource.

New folks and old folks alike, I need your e-mail address to give you your IRC channel and give you permission for the Google Doc. I have PMs, or you can e-mail me at SAJoeRules on gmail.

I've never run a TEW game of this nature before, so bear with me. I hope to run shows every other day (once we get started), and hopefully I can even give you a specific time, for booking deadlines and any in-game incidents that occur.

Awhile back I did a TEW2010 thread that had a lot of weird rules and ended up getting overtaken by some weird spergy guy and eventually ended in people playing Trivial Pursuit and becoming skeletons.

With Rarity doing an excellent modern TEW thread that I hope returns very soon, I figured I'd set up another one in a different niche with a different gimmick. We're heading out of modern WWE territory and heading just past the Death of the Territories. The WCW re-watch is almost right after where we'll begin, so turn your Wayback machines to May 1996.

The gimmick of this thread isn't just to lead the WWF or WCW to win the blossoming Monday Night Wars, but to choose a side.

Both WCW and WWF will be booked here and the catch is that you can only book for one or the other. Anyone can join or leave the booking teams at any time, but you cannot switch once you choose (unless prompted by certain events). So if you choose to join WCW, decide you don't want to play anymore, and then come back - you can't come back with the WWF.

Total Extreme What Now?
Total Extreme Wrestling is a booking simulation series made by this guy named Adam Ryland. He's been making them since forever and up to TEW2005 is freeware. While the game comes with a host of fantasy characters Ryland and others have created, there's also a pretty intense modding scene that allows for various real world scenarios. We'll be using a modded scenario here in TEW2013, which came out late last year. It's a much faster game and seems like it might just be the best in the series so far - that remains to be seen!

So What's May 1996 Like?

WCW
. The Giant is currently in his second WCW World Title run. Konnan is currently the United States champion, while Lex Luger holds two belts: The Television Title and the Tag Titles along with Sting.

. Following the failed "Alliance to end Hulkamania," the Dungeon of Doom and The Horsemen have split up and look to be heading into battle with each other.

. Hulk Hogan is becoming slightly stale in his character and fans are starting to turn on him.

. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall have just signed for the company but the news has yet to be spoiled online.

WWF
. Shawn Michaels is the top babyface and just won his first World title from Bret Hart in a sixty minute iron man match. Now Bret looks to take a short period of time off to let Michaels adjust to the top babyface role. In addition to this, Goldust holds the Intercontinental Title while the Bodydonnas hold the tag belts.

. Losing two major stars to their rivals, the company needs to find new stars in the undercard which currently includes Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Steve Austin and Owen Hart.

. Struggling for star power, Roddy Piper and The Ultimate Warrior have been brought back for another run with the company.

. The recently debuted Vader is being positioned to be a monster heel to take on Michaels in the future and is gearing up for a rivalry with Yokozuna to get him to that level.

So What Else Do I Need To Know?

While discussion and shows will be posted in thread, actual decisions will be made in ~seeecret documennnnnts~ so that we actually have a sense of competition (though sometimes shows might be taped before others - so beware!). Booking decisions will be based on majority rule of who's voted by time limit (so if there's 20 bookers, ten people vote, and 6 say that the Giant should lose to Kevin Sullivan, then that's majority). I will write the shows, though all the ideas behind them come from you.

There won't be any self-imposed limits here like my last game, but the goal is to keep it mostly serious since going insane and making Triple H a nazi sex character will probably cause you to lose to the other team. The only limits are what the game has imposed - some workers have creative control, so Kevin Nash might not lie down for Chris Jericho. You definitely don't have to follow history - unless you want to. Have fun and be creative, but maybe giving Hulk Hogan an alien from Mars gimmick might not work so well?

Additionally, there will be some out-of-game events. WCW might sway a couple of bookers from WWF, or perhaps a hurricane keeps part of WCW's bookers away from the show, and of course there will still be interaction with management. While I'm acting as a conduit for playing the game, I want to make it a little different than if you were playing by yourself.

So all that's left is for you to choose a side. Will you help Eric Bischoff and the just-out-of-the-minors WCW overtake Vince McMahon or will you help new writer Vince Russo keep the struggling WWF afloat? I'll give it a day or two for signups then we can start. Remember, even if you're late to the thread we're always taking new hires (and the teams need not be balanced - potentially WWF could be 20 guys and WCW could be 1).

Abrasive Obelisk fucked around with this message at Dec 15, 2013 around 01:13

No. Sorry if that's not clear - we're picking up from the same save file. But I do want some more security on the IRC channel and the Google Doc, so those will be starting anew. But truly, there's nothing stopping you from copy/pasting the entire old doc into the new version.

No. Sorry if that's not clear - we're picking up from the same save file. But I do want some more security on the IRC channel and the Google Doc, so those will be starting anew. But truly, there's nothing stopping you from copy/pasting the entire old doc into the new version.

"In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently, not culture of the earth, no navigation, nor the use of commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building, no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." - Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

After Shawn Michaels had his mettle tested by the macabre, malevolent, malicious Mankind at Heartbroken, the slate is clear of opponents for the moment. But a champion's work is never done, as when one opponent is gone, more will rise to take aim at the ever present target around his waist. Every year, an assortment of competitors take the stage to try to show that they are the best around, that they deserve this shot, that they are the true...

Our Contestants:
Chris Jericho has been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. This international superstar has made waves in America, Japan, Mexico, and his native Canada, dazzling fans with his high-flying offence. He's had a hot start in the World Wrestling Federation, showing just why he's the wrong man to mess with.
Jesse James has just come out of Jeff Jarrett's shadow, and intends to show the World Wrestling Federation that the South can rise again.
Yoshihiro Tajiri is a mysterious character, coming from the booming industry of puroresu, where he has won acclaim for his mysterious offence. Perhaps one unlucky superstar will run afoul of his dreaded Poison Mist.
Kaz Hayashi is a lovable rookie looking to make waves.
Jeff Hardy, high-flying hick from North Carolina, has struggled and strived with his brother Matt to get to the WWF, and he doesn't intend to waste this opportunity.
Buh Buh Ray and his brother D-Von make up the Dastardly Dudley Brothers, bent on bringing the extreme and unstable nature of their ECW home to the WWF
Steve Austin and Hunter Hearst Helmsley, the Two Man Power Trip, intend to show WWF where the power lies. If it's down to the two of them, they've made it clear they yield for no man, even each other!
Marty Jannetty, the WWF Champion's former tag partner, may well be nursing a grudge, not only against HBK, but against Austin and HHH, who treated him and his current tag parner, the 123 Kid, like dirt in recent weeks.
He's Bart Gunn, of the tag champs the Smokin' Gunns.
Rocky Maivia is a child of privelege, the WWF's first ever third generation superstar.
Edge is straight off the boat from WCW, and aims to show that WWF is where the real big boys play.
Owen Hart is a man still living in the shadow of his brother. After Bret Hart left in the wake of Wrestlemania 12, Owen has retreated into bitterness, joining with the scheming Jim Cornette and swearing to outdo his brother in every respect. He not only promises to win the King Of The Ring tournament for a second time, but defeat the man his brother could not, Shawn Michaels, for the WWF title.
Barry Horowitz doesn't stand a chance.
Sparkplug Bob Holly hasn't had a lot of luck in the WWF in his career, but he intends to change that by winning the King Of The Ring tournament.
D'Lo Brown wants to show them all who the real deal is.

I Before E fucked around with this message at Dec 18, 2013 around 02:47

Really pumped that this is rising from the grave--can't wait to see what the WWF Random Tag Name Generator will come up with next. Big thanks to Mac for getting this started and JR for keeping it going.

SOMETHING SMELLS WRONG IN THE FORESTS OF CATOOSA COUNTY, GEORGIA: SKUNK ROCKERTM! POWERED BY DEMONIC ROCK MUSIC HE'S SWORN VENGEANCE AGAINST HUMAN BEINGS WHO POLLUTE HIS HOME & KILL HIS FRIENDS! SKUNK ROCKERTM: COMING SOON TO A VIDEO STORE NEAR YOU!

I'm just saying to my former team mates good luck and godspeed, if you want me back let me know but frankly I'm probably just going to watch this one.

P.S. make sure to stick with the plan of "never ever book Nash and Hall in a match ever" cause

OK, got TEW updated and got the save file working. Both shows will be run by tomorrow.

To both shows:

- I am intentionally staying out of the Google Docs when not running shows, so that I don't see early ideas or anything else that might confuse me. For this reason, please try to make things as easy as possible for me. I am using your roster pages to set alignments and pushes to start, and will use your "this week's show" tab for those, but please create a tab in your Google Doc for the specific things I need to do: set a person to turn, change a gimmick, start/end a feud, etc. Both docs have so many tabs that it would be hard for me to keep up with all the details otherwise.

quote:

Hello from the Hilton Coliseum - it's a sellout here for Monday Nitro!

- Dark match: Barry Windham and Christian Cage beat State Patrol. Windham looked good, and that was about it. Good guys went over.

- Dark match: The recently poached-from-ECW Raven and Saturn tagged against Bobby Walker and Joey Maggs. From main eventing to wrestling "Hardwork" in a dark match? I hope these guys are getting PAID. Raven goes over in a bad match.

- "Mean" Gene Okerlund is on the stage: "The board of directors were content to allow you, the wrestlers, to police yourselves without direct interference, but recently a number of people have been taking advantage of that. Therefore, they have decided to entrust someone to re-establish order. Someone honest, someone respectable, someone...perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the new WCW Commissioner, Curt Hennig!"

Hennig comes to the ring and says his only intent in ascending to power in WCW is to stop the inmates from running the asylum. No longer will Outsiders be permitted to incite random chaos, or guys like Randy Savage and Ric Flair have to suffer brutal beatdowns. Hennig says he's here to protect and manage the roster...perfectly.

His first official order of business, however, is to put over the efforts of Rey Misterio Jr. and Psicosis in last night's Slamboree match, saying the cruiserweight style is awe-inspiring and the future of wrestling. Hennig announces a tournament to crown the inaugural WCW Cruiserweight Champion...but midsentence the power goes out in the arena.

Commentators attempt to figure out what's going on, but all anyone can hear now is the sound of wings flapping. Power comes back on, no one is there. Weird.

Hennig, still in the ring with the microphone, is flipping around looking at the crowd, puzzled. Finally shrugging, he says the opening bout in the cruiserweight tournament is right now!"

The crowd loved Hennig - but I don't think they particularly gave a crap about the cruiserweights.

- Backstage, we catch Rey Misterio Jr. watching the match's conclusion on a monitor, sampling a ham and cheese wrap, when the Outsiders attack. Hall and Nash work Misterio over until Nash Jackknifes him into a trashcan. Their work done, the pair begin talking sarcastically about Curt Hennig referring to these silly "flippydoos," as the future of wrestling. Nash may have mentioned they're fun to watch on his blog, but losers like this guy don't merit a world championship. "As if a midget like Rey Misterio Jr. would ever win a REAL belt up north like I did. People don't want to see scawny midgets with gold unless they're leprechauns. I tell ya, if I had the book, I'd at least be taking that mask off." Hall follows up with a hilarious impersonation of "Mr. Nerdfect," and disparaging but vague remarks about the last time he was in the ring and how much better suited he is to a desk job. "Thank god we don't work here, eh man?" "For sure. Let's get out of here and grab a sandwhich." The camera holds on the unconscious Misterio as they leave.

- Hulk Hogan comes out to the ring, and begins by thanking the Hulkamaniacs. Last night they saw him beat down Jimmy Hart, and cheered even more loudly than they were cheering for the match in the ring, and it showed him the truth. Hulk Hogan is bigger than anything. Just by standing next to the ring, Hulk Hogan was bigger and better than the two men fighting to be Heavyweight Champion of the World. Which means that Hulk Hogan is bigger than the title belt. He's bigger than the 7 foot monster that's holding it. And most importantly, he's bigger than that spotlight stealing, fast-talking, smoked meat loving maniac Randy Savage. From this moment, wrestling isn't about speeches, or grudges, or tag teams, or TV networks, and it's certainly not about titles. The only thing that matters in this world is Hulkamania. And there's nobody on earth that can stop it!

As Hulk finishes his speech, Paul Orndorff comes out to the ring. Orndorff says he's shocked by Hulk's actions. Hulk had always done whatever he had wanted no matter what, but until tonight it had always been the right thing. He asks if Hulk is really willing to throw away the friendship of men who had stood by him like Randy Savage. To spit on the legacy of the WCW title belts and the great men who've held them over the years, including himself. He asks if he's honestly going to throw all the hopes and dreams of the Hulkamaniacs away over nothing but pride. Hogan: ""Throwing away the dreams of Hulkamaniacs? The dreams of the Hulkamaniacs are to eat, drink, and breathe The Hulkster, brother!" Hogan asks what right Orndorff has to talk about those worthless belts. How many times has he been a world champ? "Zero!" Hogan begins openly mocking Orndorff, saying it's pretty rich how Orndorff is going to bat for Randy Savage when Orndorff, like Savage, spent the 80s alternating between leeching off his spotlight and stabbing him in the back. Finally, he concludes that the small man isn't worth his time, and tells him to leave him and the Hulkamaniacs to their moment of glory.

Orndorff: "Hulkster, I had a feeling that words weren't going to bring you back down to earth. So I'm gonna have to do it the hard way. Before I came out here, I had words with our new commisioner, Curt Hennig. At my request, he's made tonight's main event a one-on-one match between you, and ME! And I'm gonna wake you up from your little fantasy."

Hulk: "The only fantasy is that any match with Hulk Hogan is one on one! You fight me, you're fighting all of Hulkamania brother! And if you want it so badly, then tonight HULKAMANIA IS GONNA RUN WILD ON YOU!"

The crowd was really into Hogan's new bit. Orndorff maybe wasn't the best choice - there wasn't much pop for him.

- The Giant comes out with Jimmy Hart and Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan congratulates the Giant on beating Randy Savage and for helping end Hulkamania's threat to the Dungeon. He tells the Giant that he has one more task to do: surrender the title to Sullivan. The Giant says he's worked too hard to give up on the World title, but Sullivan berates him, saying he's given Giant guidance and mentored him. Sullivan says the Dungeon of Doom has made Giant what he is, so now it's time to give back to the Dungeon. Giant still seems conflicted, but Jimmy Hart notes he better decide quickly--he and Sullivan had a quick chat with Commissioner Hennig, and the title match is tonight! Sullivan and Hart begin to exit, but Sullivan turns back to tell Giant he is confident Giant will make the right choice.

- The Great Muta defeats Scott Steiner with a moonsault press. The commentators note that neither Jimmy Hart nor any other Dungeon member remained at ringside for this match; they speculate that even the Dungeon of Doom fears The Great Muta.

Rick Steiner tries to attend to Scott after the match...only to find himself on the receiving end of a faceful of red mist.

Arn Anderson, flanked by Benoit, grabs a mic to explain his actions in betraying Ric Flair last night at Slamboree. He says that Flair--like the opponents he and Benoit just rolled over, the RnR Express--was once great, on top of the wrestling world, but the business has passed them by. He asserts Flair had lost his focus, that he cared more about women and boozing and spending money than winning championships. He says that friendship will never get in the way of his getting to the top of this business, and that's why he had to stick the knife in Flair's back. He notes, however, that if anyone thinks the Four Horsemen are dead, he corrects them; Flair, he says, is not synonymous with the Horsemen legacy. He says he will carry on as leader of a New Horsemen, and for his loyalty he's passing on his own title of Enforcer to Benoit. He promises that with him in control, the Four Horsemen will ride again. To emphasize the point, Benoit holds up four fingers.

The other Blue Bloods, Taylor and Eaton, join Wright and Regal in the ring to corner Dusty Rhodes for a beatdown...but Disco Inferno, armed with a chair, makes the save! He runs off the Nobility, who look smug and triumphant even as they tuck tail. They flash the "V for Victory."

- The Giant vs. Kevin Sullivan for the WCW Title was a total non-match. Sullivan asked Giant to lay down, Giant played to the crowd a bit, Sullivan slaps the Giant, and it's chokeslam and over. Decent pop for Giant.

- The Road Warriors defeat Lex Luger & Sting in a Tag Team Title match. Hawk gets the pin in one of the best matches of the night. After the Road Warriors celebrate the win, Sting goes to the timekeeper's table and grabs Lex's TV title. He walks over to Lex and pushes the title into his chest and quickly walks away.

- MAIN EVENT: Hulk Hogan defeats Paul Orndorff. Duh. Good pop, not so good match. The show ended with Randy Savage coming from the seats to chase Hogan out of the ring. When Hogan was safely out of arm's reach, he turned and stared Savage down.

quote:

- Dark match: Ted DiBiase brings out Taz and Rhino (where do they get these names ) and they beat Aldo Montoya and Avatar. Lame.

- Dark match: Rocky Maivia over Skip.

- RAW opens with a recap of stills from the HBK/Mankind match from In Your House. From there, Shawn Michaels comes to the ring with his title belt and a microphone. However, before he can say too much, Camp Cornette comes out. Cornette feigns congratulations, and then informs the champ that the British Bulldog will be challenging for the title at King of the Ring. Shawn Michaels says he doesn't care which of Cornette's chumps he faces, and Owen takes issue with the remark, setting a non-title match for tonight.

- Zip vs. Bob Holly, Holly quickly gets the upper hand and hits Zip hard until Sunny comes out for support. Zip fights his way back into the match-up and manages to get the pin after a top rope splash. Sunny raises Zip's hand after the match.

- Goldust backstage promo on The Undertaker, He says Undertaker shouldn't have done what he did at In Your House, because now a demon has awakened inside him. "At King Of The Ring, Undertaker, you will feel my great vengeance, and my furious anger... as I go medieval on your rear end. It's like the old saying, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth... gold for gold."

This promo was loving creepy. It pretty much ruled.

- Phatu brings his newly won Intercontinental title to the ring and offers an open challenge to defend it. Justin Hawk Bradshaw quickly comes out, but gets defeated.

- Backstage interview with the Bodydonnas, Skip is frustrated with Zip about losing the belts, but Zip points out that if Skip hadn't tagged himself in they'd still be tag champs. Skip tells Zip that he brought him in this company to help them bond as brothers and not to take his girlfriend Sunny. Zip confused about the situation says that Skip is acting crazy and Sunny agrees with Zip. Skip demands to know why Sunny came out to see Zip's match. Sunny states because "I manage the both of you not just you, Skip!". Skip Irate at the response storms off but also taking Sunny, unwillingly along with him.

The crowd hated this. It was short, but it was boring and it really hurt the mood of the arena.

- After the match Ahmed demands he get retribution for Haas attacking him at IYH, before Haas could say anything Backlund pops out and accepts the challenge and even going as far as to make it a Collegiate Rules match, saying Haas is a Grade A amateur wrestler that Ahmed would have no chance in heck of beating a 25 time NCAA champion. Haas confused by the ordeal takes mic and says that he accepts on his own behalf.

- Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) vs. Tatanka, Tatanka keeps a fast pace to try and overwhelm the Undertaker. Undertaker gets the upper hand on Tatanka in the end, but before he can hit the tombstone piledriver Goldust's bell hits and the lights go out. When they come back on, Tatanka is covering Undertaker. The ref looks somewhat unsure but counts the fall.

Goldust appears and taunts The Undertaker by kneeling over him like Undertaker did to him at IYH. He then stares down Paul Bearer and moves in on him, smiling. Bearer hauls rear end out of the ring area, keeping Goldust from the urn.

- Main Event: Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart. Jim Cornette and Bulldog at ringside. Owen dominates at first but can't seem to finish the smaller man off, being outspeeded at several occasions. He grows visibly more frustrated as the match goes on, so Cornette calls Owen over from the corner. He tries to direct Owen but they end up arguing. While they're distracted, HBK gets back up and nails Cornette in the head with a Superkick! Owen reacts quickly and tries to grab Michaels but gets countered into a backslide pin.

A very solid main event. Afterwards, Cornette tells his men to attack, and they end up beating down the Heartbreak Kid as the show closes.

- After the cameras stopped, The Ultimate Warrior took on Tajiri. Warrior looked good, but I think most people left after his entrance.

I've got to run for the time being, but I'll have the Observer notes out by tomorrow. WWF had the better critical reaction this week, but who won the ratings? Was it Hogan-Orndorff in the Year Nineteen Hundred And Ninety Six or was it Tatanka Goes Over The Undertaker?

- Overnight TV Ratings show WWF's Monday Night RAW to be the winner over WCW's Monday Nitro this week, with a 2.72 to a 2.46. Interesting to note is that RAW increased their rating the night after a PPV, whereas Nitro's rating decreased. Is this more telling of Sunday than it is of Monday? We'll find out next week.

- Critical ratings also show RAW to be the better show, rating with a B-. Nitro's rating came in at a C-, in part due to some backstage issues with the product. I expect WCW to get things back into shape sooner than later.

- Both announce teams have been praised for their work recently. While the teams can only get better as their experience develops, both companies have announcers who elevate the in-ring workers.

I was going to do a few more stories here, but two things that I want to put out ASAP:

a) Writing isn't my strong suit. You guys can pretty much tell that I just copied/pasted your segment descriptions for the show run-down, adding a few comments here and there. That will pretty much be my plan on a weekly basis, so be aware.

b) As I ran the shows, I noticed a few issues with rosters here and there - alignments, pushes, folks set to turn, etc. I'm taking some time right now to get these taken care of, but if there were any errors that showed up in Monday's shows, please forgive me. With that said, this is exactly why I need a tab in your docs that says "Hey JR, do these things". After fixing any errors as per your Roster tabs, the ONLY tabs I will read from your docs are the "JR Do These Things" tab and the "This Week's Show" tab. Any other tabs are for the writers' benefit & organization only.

As soon as I've made sure all roster issues are taken care of, I will run Saturday Night/Superstars. Get those ready to air ASAP, as I will probably start booking them tonight.

edit: I think the easiest thing for me to miss will be setting a person to turn. This isn't having someone actually switch alignments, just starting to hint at it down the road. If you have folks who should be set to turn heel/face, make sure this is listed either in your "HEY JR" tab or "Roster" tab, and make sure your shows tell me when to actually switch their alignment.